“Arjuna saw in that universal form unlimited mouths and unlimited eyes. It was all wondrous. The form was decorated with divine, dazzling ornaments and arrayed in many garbs. He was garlanded gloriously, and there were many scents smeared over His body. All was magnificent, all-expanding, unlimited. This was seen by Arjuna.” (Bhagavad-gita, 11.10-11)

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अनेकवक्‍त्रनयनमनेकाद्भ‍ुतदर्शनम् ।
अनेकदिव्याभरणं दिव्यानेकोद्यतायुधम् ॥
दिव्यमाल्याम्बरधरं दिव्यगन्धानुलेपनम् ।
सर्वाश्चर्यमयं देवमनन्तं विश्वतोमुखम् ॥

aneka-vaktra-nayanam
anekādbhuta-darśanam
aneka-divyābharaṇaṁ
divyānekodyatāyudham

divya-mālyāmbara-dharaṁ
divya-gandhānulepanam
sarvāścarya-mayaṁ devam
anantaṁ viśvato-mukham

The skeptic says that they want visual evidence. They insist upon proof. Otherwise, they think the followers are foolish:

“Look at them. Bowing down in front of a deity. It’s a statue, you people. Wake up. This is make-believe. You are no different than children having a tea party. Who cares what your mother or father did for you. These relationships are meaningless. Better to enjoy right now. Do what is good for yourself. No one else will have the same level of interest. Let me take care of me. That is my motto in life, and it has served me well.”

A similar argument was employed by a brahmana in order to persuade Shri Rama to return home from the forest. The plea was simply for argument’s sake, to counter Rama’s insistence on doing right by the father, in following dharma, in using the supreme interest as the guiding force for man’s behavior.

If the skeptic insists upon seeing something great, there is already so much available. They will have to ignore the great, repeatedly. The truth is that they will never appreciate. Even if the Divine demonstrated His potency with a personal exhibit, an exclusive showing, a one-on-one meeting, the spirit of defiance would remain.

1. The earth

“You want to see something great? Just look at this field. Nothing, right? Empty. Just dirt. After a few months, stuff will start to grow. I know, it’s like magic. Trust me. It will happen. The stuff that grows will be edible. It will provide sufficient nourishment for an entire year. Then the same will repeat.”

2. The waterfall

“You want to see something great? Take a look at that waterfall. The water keeps moving. Just imagine the potency of that force. There is no machine with a switch that toggles between on and off. The area will never run out of water, though it keeps falling.”

3. The trees

“You want to see something great? Take a look at these trees. The color. The stature. The distinction within the field. The juxtaposition to the surroundings. This tree maintains itself. No one has to water it. No one tells it when to grow fruits. It is like a trusted member of the community.”

4. The sun

“You want to see something great? Look in the sky. High above. The luminous object. The one dissipating heat and light. It is also the great witness. The sun sustained life for our ancestors. People standing in this very spot, thousands of years ago, within the journey of life. They received the benedictions from the exact same sun. What can be more amazing than that?”

5. The universal form

This was shown to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The exhibition took place. There is a documented account of the event. That account has persisted to the modern day. The amount of time in between has no bearing on the validity. The truth is the truth, whether accessed in the moment or recounted thousands of years later.

Though Arjuna specifically requested that vision, the concept is not difficult to comprehend. The universal form, the virat-rupa, always exists. Think of everything. All the objects. All the planets. All the regularly scheduled changes.

Put everything into a single image, which is three-dimensional and features a time component. That is the virat-rupa. Arjuna received a special pair of eyes in order to see directly, but we can see indirectly through his experience.

What can be more amazing than the entire collective? What more proof could a person insist on before they believe in a higher power? They are being tossed around at every second, like spinning inside of a machine that dries clothes. They are overcome by the dualities of attraction and aversion, and somehow they expect to be accommodated in their request, just because they insist.

इच्छाद्वेषसमुत्थेन द्वन्द्वमोहेन भारत।
सर्वभूतानि संमोहं सर्गे यान्ति परन्तप।।

icchādveṣasamutthena dvandvamohena bhārata।
sarvabhūtāni saṃmohaṃ sarge yānti parantapa।।

“O scion of Bharata [Arjuna], O conquerer of the foe, all living entities are born into delusion, overcome by the dualities of desire and hate.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 7.27)

Rather, greater than the universal form is the person behind it. The one who showed that vision to Arjuna. The one who passed on the timeless wisdom. The one who upholds the honor of Dasharatha. The one who gives everything to the devotees, at every second, from beginning to end. He is the one to worship, for lifetime after lifetime.

In Closing:

In strict defiance to state,
To insist on something great.

With their own eyes must see,
But what about the trees?

And the earth’s bountiful yield,
And sun my ailments to heal.

The greatest devotees to know,
Who the virat-rupa to show.

Categories: the five

Tags: atheism, god, hare krishna, hinduism, poem, poems, poetry, religion